Strange Days Indeed

 

‘Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed – most peculiar, mama’
from ‘Nobody Told Me’ by John Lennon, released posthumously (1984)

‘The wall on which the prophets wrote
is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
the sunlight brightly gleams…
…confusion will be my epitaph
as I crawl, a cracked and broken path.
If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh.
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying..’
From ‘Epitaph’ by King Crimson, from the album ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ (1969)

I am disturbed by the way things are going in the world right now. I know I am not alone. I watched and listened to a sermon preached a couple of Sundays ago by Revd Nadia Bolz-Weber which referenced the disturbing times in which we are living, in which she also reminded her hearers that God is still on the throne. And I found that encouraging and reassuring; a welcome reminder.

But still I am disturbed. 

In fact, I must confess I am possibly more anxious about world events at the moment than I can recall ever being in my adult life, even having lived through the tensions at the height of the Cold War. And so, I am – along with many others – more than a little disturbed by current events and some of the developments we are witnessing in our world right now.

However, one of the most disturbing things is that people in general, and folks in my several circles in particular, seem disturbed by different things – even polar opposite things. Within my family and amongst my friends, I am increasingly finding that I have to carefully navigate conversations and avoid certain topics (a growing number, if truth be told) in order to avoid tensions and potential conflict. It is very disconcerting and more than a little uncomfortable. It is also very confusing and… yes, disturbing. 

While this polarisation is most evident on social media, it is not confined to there. 

And where I find it most confusing and disturbing is among my fellow Christians. There is what feels to me a concerning trend in some strands of Western Christianity in which some Christians have thrown their lot in with certain social and political trends that I find difficult to reconcile with the person and teachings of Jesus. Of course, I need to keep trying to openly and honestly reflect on that, and pray about it. Could I be wrong? Might I yet come to agree with these Christian sisters and brothers? 

I do try to be open. But still I find myself struggling with it all.

This is not the post in which to explore the different tribes of Christianity nor their history, or – indeed – where I fit in with all of that. All of these things are very complicated (and I do wish some of my fellow Christians who imagine it is all straightforward and simple, bothered to consider something of the history and issues surrounding the varying stands of culture, belief, and practice in Christianity and how they have come about. They might be surprised!).

For the moment, my intention is simply to express my deep feelings of being disturbed, confused, worried, and concerned, by the state of the world, by the allegiances of some parts of the Christian community, and by the tensions between family, friends, and Christian sisters and brothers. 

How has it come to this?